


Different

by jessm78, terryreviews



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:19:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27517489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessm78/pseuds/jessm78, https://archiveofourown.org/users/terryreviews/pseuds/terryreviews
Summary: Jamie said he would always love the Doctor and now is being put to the test. Having snuck aboard the TARDIS as Two was being sentenced, he now is trapped with Three, in the 1970s, on Earth. Truth be told, Jamie doesn't know if he's going to pass the test. Everything is so different.Co-Written by the wonderful jessm78
Relationships: Second Doctor/Jamie McCrimmon, Third Doctor/Jamie McCrimmon
Comments: 11
Kudos: 18





	Different

**Author's Note:**

> This was an idea floating around in my head. I personally really hate what happened to Jamie (as many of us are) and I love to create alternate worlds with him in it. He's one of the most wonderful characters and when it comes to him and the Doctor, I truly believe he'd love the Doctor no matter what. Even if he just needs to adjust to it first.

Between, Liz, Brigadier, UNIT, his duties as advisor, and his tinkering with the TARDIS to get it operational, the Doctor either had little time, or little desire, to be with Jamie anymore. Both notions made the young Scot’s stomach turn and eye prickle.

Jamie didn't know how he fit in anymore. He was adaptable. Had to be with the Doctor. Though, with all that happened, he wasn't sure he was adapting, or could. Maybe, he made the wrong choice sneaking aboard the TARDIS rather than go home. He hated that the idea came to him and over the weeks, it gnawed and clawed at his peace of mind. He'd been so sure when he'd given the Time Lord guards the slip and hid in the TARDIS. A pervasive sense of guilt pooled in his stomach. He said he would always love the Doctor. Now, he was being tested and he didn't know if he was going to pass.

They were in the TARDIS library, just him and the Doctor. The Brigadier had offered both of them room on base but was turned down. Jamie preferred the familiarity of his room. Well, his and the Doctor's room. Even though the Doctor had been spending most of his time elsewhere. He'd find the Doctor asleep in his lab (in and out of the TARDIS) or in the library more often than in their bed. And when he did , he slept away from Jamie. Leaving Jamie to watch the Doctor's back until he drifted and woke, alone and cold.

Now, it was just them in the library like they'd done so often before. Unlike those times, however, the Doctor had settled in an arm chair rather than snuggle with Jamie on the couch. He was flipping through files, some new case or other, while Jamie glanced over now and again, thinking on what he wanted to say and what he would say.

Jamie decided to go for it. If they were going to be trapped here, he needed to talk. It had been weeks already and no telling how long they would be stuck for or if they would ever get out at all. Even if he lacked articulation, even if he risked an unwanted answer, he had to speak.

"Doctor?"

The other didn't hear him at first. Intently scanning data, occasionally pursing his lips or narrowing his eyes in concentration.

He cleared his throat and tried again, "Doctor?"

The Doctor started and lowered his papers to his lap, turning his head,

"Yes Jamie?"

That was such a Doctor thing to do, get so caught up in his work that he couldn't hear anything around him that Jamie almost forgot his concerns. Did he really want this conversation?

"I...I was wonderin'..." his heart began to beat harder, a tremble crept in, "nothin'. Nothin'," he waved his hand in a gesture of non-chalance, "don't worry about it." He tried to smile but his lips didn't want to stay up.

"Jamie? Are you alright?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

He hesitated. Struggling with his desires to keep the peace and the overwhelming emotions bottled inside.

Very quietly he said, "ye're different."

He could see the Doctor taking in his words, mulling them over in his mind before answer with a weary, "yes. Yes, I suppose I am."

Jamie stiffened when the Doctor set down his papers with a smack on the coffee table and stood. He made his way across the room and stopped in front of where Jamie was stretched out on the couch.

With a nod to Jamie's legs, he asked, "may I join you?"

Seeing no logical reason to refuse, Jamie sat up and moved his legs out of the way, allowing the Doctor to sit next to him.

Shoulder to shoulder, neither of them spoke for a long moment. Jamie held his hands and stared at them rather than at the other. From his peripheral vision, he could tell he was being watched.

"What's troubling you Jamie?" It was delivered so quietly, so sincerely, that Jamie couldn't help it. After weeks of forcing himself to repress his feeling and distance from the Doctor, it spilled out.

"Things are different," he squeezed his hands tighter together, "ye're different."

"Yes," The Doctor agreed gently. "is different alright?"

Jamie lifted his head and took in the vibrant green velvet, the ruffles and cape. All dashing, fancy, fashion his Doctor never bothered with. He was taller than Jamie now. More action oriented.

"Ye know how we just dealt with those invadin' beasties and you and Liz did all that science stuff and I spent most of the time knocked out?"

"That was hardly your fault. The weapons on those," the Doctor started, misinterpreting Jamie's meaning for one of self-deprecation.

"I know that, hush," he warned with a pointed finger and the Doctor fell silent, "that's no' my point! Do ye remember when I woke up?"

"Yes?"

"Ye didn't...ye didn't pet my hair. Kiss me. Fuss. Ye just asked me if I was alright and said good. Then left," Jamie took a breath, "last time I was hurt, you kept comin' back tae my room."

"I didn't think there was reason to fuss. You weren't seriously hurt. You were discharged after a day." The Doctor sounded confused.

"That's no' the point!" Jamie snapped. He shut his eyes, breathed, and once his got his anger under control, tried again quieter, "ye didn't react the same way ye used to. Like ye didn't...care."

"Jamie," the Doctor tried but Jamie wasn't done. Once started, Jamie couldn't have stopped for the world. All of it came bubbling forth.

"I know it's ye, but it's hard tae see when ye act different. Ye don't talk tae me anymore. Ye sleep at the opposite end of the bed and haven't wanted tae cuddle. Ye don't sit and read or play games with me anymore. Ye don't play ye'r recorder. And," he tried to hold it in but one tear, rapidly followed by another began coating his cheeks, "and when we go out ye...ye can do all the fightin'. Ye don't even need me for that anymore." He choked on a sob and forced himself to meet the Doctor's eyes, "do ye even love me anymore?"

"Of course, I do!" Jamie jumped to find himself suddenly crushed against the taller man's chest, "I'm so sorry Jamie. I admit, with all that has happened I've been absorbed in my own mind. Throwing myself into my work and the like. And, I find with this new body that I'm less prone to needing physical contact and emotional outburst. But please," he squeezed Jamie tighter, "know that while my mannerisms are different, it is me. My emotional responses are more subdued but it is not indictive of a lack of care."

Gingerly, Jamie began to return the embrace, nose scrunching at the ruffles, and after being denied such attention for so long, he buried his face in the Doctor's chest. Silently crying.

"I love you Jamie. No matter how the situation, or myself, changes, know that my love never does. I love you Jamie McCrimmon and while I may not show it the same way, it is still there."

Despite the lisp, despite how thin and muscular the Doctor was in his arms now, despite all the many, many changes big and small, he believed those words.

"I should have talked to you sooner but everything moved so fast," the Doctor began to stroke his back.

"I shoulda said somethin' earlier. I just..." Jamie's voice wobbled.

"Shh, Jamie. It's been a lot to take in," the Doctor soothed. Then, in a lighter, almost teasing tone, "humans are not in the habit of changing their faces."

Jamie couldn't help it, he laughed. A small, tension breaking chuckle, "no, we're not."

He lifted his face, knowing what a wreck he looked and really stared into the Doctor's eyes. With a deep sigh, he raised a hand and gently trailed the finger tips through the Doctor's now fluffy hair.

"Ye'r eyes are a different color," he said. Trying to keep the regret and sadness out of his voice. He knew that the Doctor hadn't wanted to change and he didn't want to rub salt into the wound.

The Doctor offered a small smile, "yes, I miss the blue too."

Neither of them knew who moved first but it didn't matter. Time stood still and a lot of the weight, the bitterness at the unfairness of it all, ebbed away with the simple fact they still had each other as they kissed.

The Doctor withdrew first, pressing his forehead to Jamie's and asked once more,

"Is different alright?"

Jamie moved his hands between them, catching the Doctor's hands in his. He held them and brought them to his lips. He pressed a kiss to the knuckles.

"Aye. I think I can get used tae it."


End file.
